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. Oh, I thought you d put them on special, like. Oh, shut up, said Libby.It took them nearly an hour to clear the hut andmove some of the most obvious junk out of sight, bywhich time Libby was sure she had lost at least a stone,was bright red in the face and damp all over.TopPage No 7064 There. Peter straightened his back and stretched. That wasn t as bad as I thought. You speak for yourself, muttered Libby, looking invain for somewhere to sit down. And now we ve got towalk all the way back. No, we haven t, Peter pointed. Here comes thecavalry.A muddy four-wheel-drive was bouncing over thecommon towards them. It s your swain, come to rescue you. Oh, no, moaned Libby. Just look at me. As lovely as usual, dear heart.And if you reworried about the way you look, it definitely is a date. You dare   began Libby. Hallo, folks.Spring cleaning? Ben jumped downfrom the driver s seat and strolled over. You should havelet me know.I would have come to help.Anything I cando? Just in time to be too late, lucky legs. Peter pickedup his waxed jacket. But you can take us home again. What about the other sites? asked Libby. For theother shots. Oh, the fight took place on the side of the ditch justalong there, by the bridge where we crossed over.Atleast, that s where Warburton s body was found.Nothingto do there. How did you know we were here? asked Libby. I called the caff to find out what time the shoot wasset for tomorrow and Harry told me.Do you want tocome and have a cup of tea up at the house, or would yourather go home? I would rather go home and have a bath, if youdon t mind. Libby surveyed her clothes and sniffedsuspiciously. I know just how those hop pickers mustTopPage 53ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlPage No 7165have felt.Fancy not being able to have a decent washfeeling like this. Oh, it was worse than this, said Ben cheerfully. There was all the gunge from the hops all overeverything as well.Smelt awful, stained everything,dreadful stuff.And the hops hurt your hands.They saidthat when the children went back to school in London theteachers all knew where they d been just by looking attheir hands. You know a lot about it. Libby climbed in to theback seat while Ben held the door open. Well, of course I do.I was brought up with the hopgardens.My mother virtually ran them after the war, rightup until the big growers introduced automated pickingand we couldn t compete. So when did the last pickers come down? The sixties  quite late. I thought it all stopped not long after the war.Libby was fascinated.Ben set them bumping over the common. Goodlord, no.And when they finally did stop, several of theold ladies who had been coming all their lives moveddown here for good. I d love to talk to them. Libby leaned forward overPeter s shoulder. Well, you could always talk to my mother.Afterall, she was a picker herself. Yes, but she went over to the other side, so tospeak.What about her friend, Flo? Flo married Frank Carpenter, the foreman, just afterHetty came down here.He bought the Home Farm frommy grandfather just after the war.He was a lot older thanFlo.TopPage No 7266 What beats me, said Peter, twisting round to lookLibby in the eye,  is why, when we ve been working onthis play virtually since you moved in to Bide-a-Wee,you ve suddenly developed this overwhelming interest init all within the last week. It s your fault.You introduced me to your mamaand started to tell me all about it. Come off it.You can t pin it all on me. Anyway, after that there was Uncle Lenny comingdown, and your mum getting uptight and   Libbystopped.Page 54ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html And other things.Yes, I know.Puts quite a sinistercomplexion on matters, doesn t it? Quite Miss Marple-ish, really. Libby doesn t want to be Miss Marple. Ben flickedher a glance in the driving mirror. Do you, Libby?Peter turned and raised an eyebrow.Libby scowled.Ben surprised Libby by driving right behind thevillage and turning into Allhallows Lane from the otherend. I didn t know it went anywhere, she said,surprised. Well, it doesn t really.It just turns into our land, butwe ve never put up any keep out signs.It didn t seemworth it.Libby opened the door and clambered out. Thanks for the lift. See you at seven. Be good, whispered Peter, leaning out of thewindow.Libby thumbed her nose at him and went inside.TopPage No 7367Chapter EightLibby wore her prettiest top with her straight skirt andhoped she wouldn t get too hot.At least Ben hadn tcollected her in the four-wheel-drive, or her skirt wouldhave been up round her knicker legs. You re very quiet. Ben slid his eyes sideways as heturned on to the main Canterbury road. Sorry. You do apologise a lot. S  yes. There you go again.Let s change the subject.Libby turned her head to look at him. You know,you re quite different from what I ve always thought.Ihad you down as a straightforward businessman, withperhaps a bit of golf and squash on the side. I m too old for squash, but I used to play.I triedgolf, but it was too slow.Perhaps I might try again.Doyou play? No, I m hopeless at sport.My ex used to say that ifI took a bit more exercise I wouldn t be so fat. Nice way with words, had he? Thank you for not saying  you re not fat. I would have done, but you d have thought it wasflannel. Hmm.They parked in one of the tiny back streets to thenorth of the city. So do you think you re fully au fait with all ourPage 55ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlbackground history, now? Or are there still gaps you needfilled in? said Ben as they walked to the restaurant. Sorry, have I been terribly nosy?TopPage No 7468 No, of course you haven t.Quite understandable inthe circumstances.I just want to know if I can be nosyback.They had arrived at the restaurant and Ben held openthe door.Libby didn t reply until they were seated at atable by the window. You can be as nosy as you like, I won t mind.Imight not answer you, though. I ll risk it.How long ago did your marriage breakup? Finally? Three years ago.It had been on thedownhill slope for two or three before that.I think hewaited until the children were old enough before hewent. Do they stay with you in the vacations? Mostly, at Christmas.They spend some time withtheir father   And his floosie.Libby made a face. But th e rest of the time theyswan about, working on building sites, that sort of thing.Dominic s going to Europe next summer. Have they been down sin ce you ve been in thecottage? Belinda has.The boys haven t.I hope I can squeezeus all in if they all tip up at the same time. You can always board out at The Manor. That s very kind of you. It isn t really called Bide-a-Wee, is it? If it was I would have changed it.No, that s Peterand Harry s pet name for it.They found it for me.It wascalled  The search for Bide-a-Wee. I didn t realise.Are you happy there?Libby thought. It took some getting used to after afour-bedroomed Edwardian terrace, but yes, I m happy.TopPage No 7569 Even with all the bother at the theatre? Oh, I ve got that under control now [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]